One-piece range drawer having integral skids

ABSTRACT

A range drawer structure formed from a sheet metal blank which is folded up to provide integral skids and a front wall panel with laterally extending sides to conceal the side wall panels of the drawer from the front thereof. The front wall panel is formed in an inwardly canted manner to allow a forwardly extending flange from the top edge of the front wall panel to be formed with a rolled edge to provide an integral drawer handle at least partially recessed inwardly from the front face of the range cabinet.

United States Patent 11 1 1111 3,819,247 Evans [4 June 25, 1974 [5 ONE-PIECE RANGE DRAWER HAVING 3,532,250 10/1970 Gay., 220/62 INTEGRAL SKIDS 3,606,078 9/1971 Phillips, Jr.

3,729,246 4/1973 Harrell 312/330 Jesse L. Evans, Tipp City, Ohio General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich.

Filed: Aug. 30, 1973 Appl. No.: 392,931

Inventor:

Assignee:

US. Cl 312/330, 312/236, 312/257 SM Int. Cl. A47b 88/00, A47b 77/08 Field of Search..... 312/330, 236, 257 SM, 351;

126/1 R; 220/62 74, DIG. 25

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1919 Rotenberger 312/257 SM 3/1953 Pearce 126/1 R Primary Examiner-James T. McCall Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Edward P. Barthel 5 7 ABSTRACT A range drawer structure formed from a sheet metal blank which is folded up to provide integral skids and a front wall panel with laterally extending sides to conceal the side wall panels of the drawer from the front thereof. The front wall panel is formed in an inwardly canted manner to allow a forwardly extending flange from the top edge of the front wall panel to be formed with a rolled edge to provide an integral drawer handle at least partially recessed inwardly from the front face of the range cabinet.

2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures ONE-PIECE RANGE DRAWER HAVING INTEGRAL SKIDS This invention relates to the manufacture of a sheet steel drawer and more particularly the manufacture of a one-piece range drawer for a household range cabinet.

Prior art range storage drawers on domestic cooking ranges have been formed in three separate parts, i.e., a wrapper forms the bottom and each side of the drawer and separate pieces form the front and back walls of the drawer while the front and back pieces are welded respectively to the front and back of the wrap per. The present structure has been dictated by a desire to provide an attractive exterior finish to the front panel of a drawer that is not necessary on the normally unseen portions of prior art range drawers. Suchv prior art drawer design permits a standard color for the sides, bottom and back with a different color for the front so that a match is achieved with the exposed color of the range. With the advent of newer paint systems it has been determined that a one-piece drawer design has increased flexibility. I

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new and improved one-piece drawer for a cooking range unit.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a one-piece folded-up sheet metal drawer for a range cabinet construction having a front wall with laterally extending sides to conceal the side walls of the drawer from the front thereof.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the invention is clearly shown. I

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a free-standing domestic range having a lower storage drawer embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the drawer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the drawer;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the drawer;

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are fragmentary sectional views taken along the lines 5--5, 6--6 and 7-7 respectively, of FIG. 4.

Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawing, the illustrated range structure serves only as an illustrative embodiment of conventional construction. It comprises a free-standing cabinet 10, an oven enclosed by an oven door 11, a cooktop 12 having a plurality of surface heating units 13. The range is provided with a raised splash panel 14 and control panel 16 wherein the suitable controls are provided for the surface units and the oven. A drawer space 18 is provided beneath the oven having a pair of channel guides, one of which is shown at 19, for reception of a storage drawer 20 which is the subject of the present invention.

The construction of the one-piece storage drawer 20 will now be explained with reference to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. The drawer is originally formed from a flat blank (not shown) which includes a rectangular flat bottom wall panel 24 having side wall panels 26 and 27 extending from the sides of the bottom wall panel and delimited therefrom by generally straight first 28 and second 29 side fold lines. The side wall panels are of identical construction in reversed relation'so as to be mirror images of each other.

Each side wall panel extends right angularly upwardly from the upper face of the bottom wall panel and has a generally trapazoidal shape with its base coextensive with first and second fold lines 28 and 29 respectively. As seen in FIG. 4, theforward edges 31 and 32 of the side panels 26 and 27 are canted or sloped rearwardly at an angle of about 5 degrees from the vertical.

As seen in FIG. 5, each side wall panel 26 and 27 has an outwardlyextending front flange 34 and 35 respectively, which in the preferred form has a generally quadrilateral shape. Each side panel 26 and 27 has upper skids 38 and 39 formed from flaps extending from the upper edges of the side panels 26 and 27 re spectively, and delimited therefrom by a first flap fold line shown at 40 in FIG. 6. The skids as represented by the right hand skid 39, include second and third paral lel skid flap fold lines 41 and 42 providing right angular outwardly 44, upwardly 4S and return inwardly 46 folded flanges forming a longitudinally extending box channel 47. The inner edge of the return flange 46 is preferably formed with a rolled edge providing integral bracing tubes 48 and 49 for each skid 38 and 39, respectively.

Integral'front wall panel 52 and a rear wall panel 54 extend upwardly from the front and rear of the bottom wall panel 24 and are delimited therefrom by generally straight front and rear fold lines indicated at 56 and 57 respectively in FIG. .4. As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the front wall panel 52 is generally rectangular in shape and has a transverse width dimension which exceeds the width of the bottom .wall panel 24 such that the side edges of the front wall panel are positioned outboard from the plane of their associated side wall panels a defined distance so as to conceal the forward portion thereof.

The front wall panel has integral right angularly folded rearwardly and inwardly extending flanges indicated in FIG. 2 at 62 and 63 on the left hand and 64 and 65 on the right hand sides respectively, of the front panel. As best seen in FIG. 7 the retum flange 65 is positioned in parallel relation to the plane of front wall panel 52 so as to abutt in flush relation its associated outwardly extending flange 35, oriented at a rearwardly sloped complementary angle to the canted angle of the front wall panel 52 which is about 5 from the vertical in the preferred form. As seen in FIG. 5, aligned apertures are provided for the reception of suitable fastening means such as metal screws 66.

As seen in FIG. 4 the front panel 52 has forwardly extending top flat flange 68 terminating in a downwardly curled integral tube 70 which provides an integral flange handle member for the drawer. By virtue of the rearward slope of the front panel, the flat flange 68 is recessed such that itdoes not extend forwardly beyond a vertical plane passing through the front fold line 56 of the drawer front wall panel.

As seen in FIG. 2 the rear wall panel 54 has rearwardly extending right angular side flanges 72 and 74 which abutt the rearward margins of the side wall panels 26 and 27 respectively, and are secured thereto by suitable fasteners such as metal screws (not shown) to complete the formation of the integral sheet metal drawer.

While the embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted.

I claim:

1. A one-piece sheet metal drawer for a domestic cooking range comprising; a flat rectangular panel forming a bottom wall of said drawer, a pair of mirror image side wall panels extending upwardly from the sides of said bottom wall panel and delimited therefrom by generally straight first and second side fold lines respectively, each said side wall panel having its base coextensive with its associated side fold line, each said side wall panel having its forward edge canted rearwardly whereby each said side panel has a trapazoidal shape, each said side wall panel forward edge having front flanges extending right-angularly outwardly therefrom, each said side panel having successive right angular outwardly, upwardly and returned inwardly folded flanges along the top edge thereof forming a longitudinally extending box-shaped skid channel; front and rear rectangular wall panels extending upwardly from the front and rear of said flat bottom wall panel and delimited therefrom by generally straight front and rear fold lines respectively; said front wall panel having a transverse dimension which exceeds the width of said bottom wall panel such that the side edges of said front wall panel are positioned outboard a defined distance from the plane of said side panels, each said front wall panel side edge having successive right-angular rearwardly and inwardly folded flanges, said front wall inwardly folded flanges being substantially parallel to said side wall panel rearwardly canted forward edges so as to be abuttingly secured to the outturned front flange of its associated side panel whereby said front wall panel is canted rearwardly from the vertical in substantially parallel relation to said side wall panels rearwardly canted forward edges; said front panel top edge having an outwardly folded flat flange terminating in an integral tube to provide an integral flange handle member such that said flat flange does not extend forwardly beyond a vertical plane passing through said front fold line; said rear panel having a transverse dimension substantially equal to said rear fold line, said rear panel having rearward folded side flanges abutting the rear edges of said side wall panels respectively, for securing thereto whereby a one-piece metal drawer is formed.

2. A one-piece sheet metal drawer for a domestic cooking range cabinet comprising: a flat rectangular panel forming a bottom wall of said drawer, a pair of mirror image side wall panels extending vertically upwardly from the sides of said bottom wall panel and delimited therefrom by generally straight first and second side fold lines respectively, each said side wall panel having its base coextensive with its associated side fold line, each said side wall panel having its forward edge sloped rearwardly at an angle of about 5 from the vertical whereby each said side panel has a trapazoidal shape, each said side wall panel forward edge having front quadrilateral shaped flanges extending rightangularly outwardly therefrom, each said side panel having an upper generally rectangular skid forming flap extending from the upper edge and having first, second and third parallel fold lines defining successive right angular outwardly, upwardly and returned inwardly folded flanges forming a longitudinally extending boxshaped skid channel; front and rear rectangular wall panels extending upwardly from the front and rear of said flat bottom wall panel and delimited therefrom by generally straight front and rear fold lines respectively, said front wall panel having a transverse dimension which exceeds the width of said bottom wall panel such that the side edges of said front wall panel are positioned outboard a defined distance from the plane of said side panels, each said front wall panel side edge having successive right-angular rearwardly and inwardly return folded flanges, said front wall inwardly return folded flanges being substantially parallel to said side wall panel rearwardly canted forward edges so as to be abuttingly secured to the quadrilateral-shaped front flange of its associated side panel, whereby said front wall panel is sloped rearwardly from the vertical in substantially parallel relation to said side wall panels rearwardly sloped forward edges; said front panel top edge having an outwardly folded flat flange terminating in an integral downwardly curled tube to provide an integral flange handle member coextensive with the width of said front panel such that said flat flange does not extend forwardly beyond a vertical plane passing through said front fold line; said rear panel having a transverse dimension substantially equal to said rear fold line, said rear panel having rearward folded side flanges abutting the rear edges of said side wall panels respectively, for securing thereto whereby a one-piece metal drawer is fonned. 

1. A one-piece sheet metal drawer for a domestic cooking range comprising; a flat rectangular panel forming a bottom wall of said drawer, a pair of mirror image side wall panels extending upwardly from the sides of said bottom wall panel and delimited therefrom by generalLy straight first and second side fold lines respectively, each said side wall panel having its base coextensive with its associated side fold line, each said side wall panel having its forward edge canted rearwardly whereby each said side panel has a trapazoidal shape, each said side wall panel forward edge having front flanges extending right-angularly outwardly therefrom, each said side panel having successive right angular outwardly, upwardly and returned inwardly folded flanges along the top edge thereof forming a longitudinally extending box-shaped skid channel; front and rear rectangular wall panels extending upwardly from the front and rear of said flat bottom wall panel and delimited therefrom by generally straight front and rear fold lines respectively; said front wall panel having a transverse dimension which exceeds the width of said bottom wall panel such that the side edges of said front wall panel are positioned outboard a defined distance from the plane of said side panels, each said front wall panel side edge having successive right-angular rearwardly and inwardly folded flanges, said front wall inwardly folded flanges being substantially parallel to said side wall panel rearwardly canted forward edges so as to be abuttingly secured to the outturned front flange of its associated side panel whereby said front wall panel is canted rearwardly from the vertical in substantially parallel relation to said side wall panels rearwardly canted forward edges; said front panel top edge having an outwardly folded flat flange terminating in an integral tube to provide an integral flange handle member such that said flat flange does not extend forwardly beyond a vertical plane passing through said front fold line; said rear panel having a transverse dimension substantially equal to said rear fold line, said rear panel having rearward folded side flanges abutting the rear edges of said side wall panels respectively, for securing thereto whereby a one-piece metal drawer is formed.
 2. A one-piece sheet metal drawer for a domestic cooking range cabinet comprising: a flat rectangular panel forming a bottom wall of said drawer, a pair of mirror image side wall panels extending vertically upwardly from the sides of said bottom wall panel and delimited therefrom by generally straight first and second side fold lines respectively, each said side wall panel having its base coextensive with its associated side fold line, each said side wall panel having its forward edge sloped rearwardly at an angle of about 5* from the vertical whereby each said side panel has a trapazoidal shape, each said side wall panel forward edge having front quadrilateral shaped flanges extending right-angularly outwardly therefrom, each said side panel having an upper generally rectangular skid forming flap extending from the upper edge and having first, second and third parallel fold lines defining successive right angular outwardly, upwardly and returned inwardly folded flanges forming a longitudinally extending box-shaped skid channel; front and rear rectangular wall panels extending upwardly from the front and rear of said flat bottom wall panel and delimited therefrom by generally straight front and rear fold lines respectively, said front wall panel having a transverse dimension which exceeds the width of said bottom wall panel such that the side edges of said front wall panel are positioned outboard a defined distance from the plane of said side panels, each said front wall panel side edge having successive right-angular rearwardly and inwardly return folded flanges, said front wall inwardly return folded flanges being substantially parallel to said side wall panel rearwardly canted forward edges so as to be abuttingly secured to the quadrilateral-shaped front flange of its associated side panel, whereby said front wall panel is sloped rearwardly from the vertical in substantially parallel relation to said side wall panels rearwardly sloped forward edges; said front panel top edge having An outwardly folded flat flange terminating in an integral downwardly curled tube to provide an integral flange handle member coextensive with the width of said front panel such that said flat flange does not extend forwardly beyond a vertical plane passing through said front fold line; said rear panel having a transverse dimension substantially equal to said rear fold line, said rear panel having rearward folded side flanges abutting the rear edges of said side wall panels respectively, for securing thereto whereby a one-piece metal drawer is formed. 